Protector for plants



April 18, 1933. z. STARKS PROTECTOR FOR PLANTS Filed July 20, 1931INVENTOR.

Efi'a-r'ks ZsTn'n Patented Apr.-I8, 1933 Varying Width withouttdetmctingmm h? g' ipthe bigh portionsothat it will not-110 tate about the bigh t.portion, 3 it can be' slid ture and which may be packed, shipped and tofit the support.

in which drawing tector-support. i q V Figure 3 an enlarged fragmentaryside ZESTON s'TARKsoF MALv RN; onion PROTECTOR FOR PLANTS li licationfiled July 20,

' tectorrin which the covering is not secured to any part of thesupport. and. maybe stretched beyond the support legs so as to covermore ground than would be'lpossible if it were fixedtothelegs. I

Another object is to provide aplant protector in which the supports maybe spaced evenly or unevenly and may align or fail to align one withanother, andstill prov de eflicient support for the protective covering.Still another object-is to provide a plant protector "support which willpermit the user to cut and fit the coveringmaterialec cording to theparticular requirements encountered, so that it is'not" necessary tohave various sizesiof covering material on hand Another object is toprovide a plant proteetor in which the ridge poles may be supg plied bythe purchaser ofthe support'and may be poles, rods laths or'the like andof efficiencyof the device.

Yet another object is to protector which is inexpensive to manufaostored so as to take up but littleroorn. l 1' Other objects andadvantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of thefollowingiidetailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing forming a part of this specificationand "Figure '1is, a perspective view showing the improved plant proteotorjnuse. 1,

Figure2 'is a-frontelevation of the pro :form a coil spring, 10 of'an'inner circumprovide a plant 1931. Serial N0..552,034.

port i V.. V Figure lisa front elevation of the protector covering holddown means.

. the drawing wherein like reference '55 characters designate,corresponding parts thruoutthe several views the letter may.

designate generally the support, B the protective covering therefor, Cfthe covering holddown means and D the ridge poleQ.

The support A preferably comprises an inverted U-shaped body having legportions 7 5 and abight portion'or substantially horizontal extension-6upon which is aspring clip onjaw portion 7 The support, includingthespring clip, is preferably constructed. V

of twoleng ths of wire one ofheavyfwire forming the leg and bightportions and'the other of lighterlresilient wire forming the clip. Theleg portions v5 are pointediasat 8 at their free ends and. the legsspread oi1t wardly from the bight portion 6 asjshown' in Figure '2. ,Itis preferred. that the bight portion be straight except atoitslendswhere they Inergeinto the legs and at this portion {5 they areiarcuateda's at 9. v The lsprin'gclip 7. as stated above is preferablyconstructed of a; single lengthof resilient Wire bent to ferenc'e suchas to tightly grip the bight portions 6 of the'support. The springlO'iS,however considerably smaller in length than thebight portion and whileit should tightly .terialgsuch asI-oanvas-,-- burlap, cloth or the i' Ifv like treated seas. to-; ren der; it -,transparent, a heavy p p d: nting; W e a ju ed 1011 the] suppo t-it wi l: present shripsi'fa 1 ielevation of the upper portionof thesupground engaging portions 22. V

- The covering hold down means 'or pegs G preferably comprises a singlelength of wire bent to form a'handle'portio'n SO 'and a sh'ankportion 31the end of the wire form- 'ingthe shank beingpointed'as at 32 and theopposite end of the wire being twisted as 1 at 33' or otherwise securedat the baseof the handle. The handle portion should be looped or bent soas to form'an elongated" I 4 r if the covering extended only to theground,

Since, there are absolutelyno parts of the support projecting thru thecovering, no of open handle portion. 7 7 H I The ridge pole D maycomprise an elongated rod, but the user of. thedevice may.

employ a pole orthelike such as are generally available on fa'rms-and inwoodlots. 'When employing the device, the user sets 1 the supportsbyinserting the pointed ends of thelegs into the ground, spacingthe supports apart such distancesas the lay of the ground-"and "its conditionaffords; It is not necessary that they be evenly spaced nor Ithatthey'alignone with another.- Neither is it necessary-that thewidest. part of the support be as wide as theplant to; be;protected. fNext, the user lays the ridge pole I I in place -by inserting it betweenthe arms of each spring clip. If some -supportsare unevenly placed,so'that they do'not; align,

or the ridge pole be a pole cut fro'mt-he 1 woods [and not whollystraight, the clips maybe moved along thebight portions so as toengagethe pole, asis' wellillustratedin Figure 1.- So'that the clipsm'aynot grip the support when being'lnovedalong it-, the

- "front end. portion of'a finger and the "thumb may be pressed againstthe'arms 11 and the thumb and finger spread apart," so that the armswill move away from each "other and relieve somewhat the spring tension;Itis apparenti that wide ridge 1 poles, such 1 as n laths or'the like orpoles cut from the woods,

which taper in length, will be as efficiently accommodated'by the clipssince the springs will'permitthe armsto move apart enough to take I careof these difi'er'encesi illie rounded heads '11? aid-when pressing theridge -pole' between the-arms" and'fthe abut .ments 12aid in holding theridge pole; when "in plaza-1t can be seen thatftheclips may" B ng vportibody, for the-coil. spring'will slide alongftherounded' portions '9of thebightjj andgdowngor up the legs.

Ff i-W'hen the ridge poles are 111' place the the covering may layagainst thele'gsiand Pbe pegged; down'f'atfconvenient intervals bypunching the shank of the protective cover- 1 i ngf-hol'd down meansthru'the ground hengagi-nglportions 'oflthe" covering and into thefground." elongated-handle of the f covering h'oldfdown; means when,contact 1 po1e;; 7 7 V v As I an; article of m nufacmrea; plantprotector covering support, 'comprising a" leg portion and a"substantially horizontal with the protective covering prevents it fromtearing out of the hole made by the shank. V

If the plants arelarger than the width of we the support thecovering'may be stretched;-' away from the legs'asfar as necessary andpegged down asjbefore. Since-any width covering can be used,so: as 170extend iou'twardly along the 'ground'as shown'in Figunder the coveringas might be the case holes in the latter are necessary other than thosemade by the shank of the covering ure l small'animals, birds, etc willnot be p find places where they can tra l hold down fmea ns,-'formoisture, insects,- etc.,

to find egress: or tobe torngby the-wind z 'When dismantling theprotector, the-pegs are withdrawn the covering rolled up or otherwisecompacted, the ridge poles withdrawn'and stored or'thrown away andthe 1can covering. hold down means over. the legs or bight portions. 7 I I sV 1 Changes .in detail may be made' to the form of invention hereinshown and,"de-

scribed, without departingfrom: the-spirit of the invention or the'scopefof the follow ing claims. v,- I o What is claimed is: H a 1. Inaplant protector the combination CIDO of a support, aspring clip carriedby said support, a ridge pole removably carriedr by said cl p; nd a pantrro o er n supported by said support and ridge pole. r 1 2.111} plantprotector, the combination of a support, a spring clip'ficarried saidsupport, aridge pole removablycarried ,7

covering said clip.

' said clip, and a plant protector l covle ifig "I 1 supported bysaidsupport andridgepoleand of a" wire support comprising legs? and i bightportion, "a ridgepole rem vablycarried by said clip, anda plantprotector covbightportion and a wire'cli'p carried by said supported by:said 'support ridge extension at the upper endfthe reof'provided with aridge'pole receivingiclip'. 5;

A "Plant "Prot'e tor 'f coverlng support comprising a leg'portion asubstantially 7 horizontal extension attlfe upper end therecarried bysaid extensions f of and" a ridge polereceiv ingclip v 6'." A "plantprotector 'Zcovering' I comprising a leg' portion, 'aisubsmnuauy;

horizontal exitension'jatthe upp'enend' them.

of and a ridge pole receiving clip adjustable on said extension.

7. A plant protector covering support comprising a leg portion, asubstantially horizontal extension at the upper end there of and a ridgepole receiving member carried by the extension, provided with arms forembracing the ridge pole.

8. A plant protector covering support comprising a leg portion,: asubstantially horizontal extension at the upper end there r of, and aridge pole receiving member having a coil spring body encircling saidextension, the ends ofsaid coil spring body substantially circular crosssection, and a upwardly.

coil spring having upwardly extending arms at the ends thereof, saidspring encircling a portion of the bight portion of said vinvertedU-shaped body and slidable thereon and said'arms adapted to embrace theridge pole.

11. As an article of manufacture a ridge ,pole receiving clip for aplant protector covering support comprising a single length of wire bentto form a coil spring adapted to encircle the support, and further bentto form outwardly extending parallel arms at the ends of said coilspring, said arms I having their ends bent inwardly towards said coilspring and adapted to embrace and hold the ridge pole. v

12. As an article of manufacture a ridge pole receiving clip for a plantprotector covering support, comprising a single length of wire bent toform a coil spring adapted to encircle thesupport, andfurther bent toform outwardly extending parallel arms at the ends of said coil spring,having rounded ends and abutments facing said coil spring, said arms andabutments adapted to hold the ridge pole.

13. A plant protector covering, support comprisinga leg portion and asubstantially horizontal extension at the upper end thereof providedwith a ridge-pole receiving socket with the mouth of'the socket facingZESTON sTARKs,

